We the Poisoned

Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Flint water crisis, Chariton uncovers new evidence that sheds light on the miscarriage of justice and corruption that led to the poisoning of Flint’s citizens.

Most people perceive the Flint water crisis as a tragic failure, long in the rearview mirror, born from terrible government decisions to cut corners and save money. However, an active coverup is stillvictimizing Flint residents nearly a decade later. From crooked Wall Street financial schemes to illegal political payoffs, destruction of evidence, witness tampering, perjury, and threatened whistleblowers, Toxic Government: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 People will, for the first time, reveal the real story behind the government’s full involvement in the Flint water crisis.

As the coverup continues today, innocent residents have been arrested, surveilled, threatened, and made to feel like they are crazy. With more immune-damaged residents slowly dying every year, Flint’s lead levels again on the rise, and a deadly pandemic thrown on top of it, it is time for the true story of the Flint water cover up to be told. Based on eight years of reporting, thousands of confidential documents from the criminal investigation, and the former Governor of Michigan’s own words under oath, Jordan Chariton takes readers on the road to crisis before the Flint River switch—when government officials blew through blinking red stop signs and orchestrated a financial scheme that allowed a nearly bankrupt Flint to borrow $100 million dollars for a new water system. As brown, smelly water flowed to the homes of Flint and residents grew sick, politicians intentionally and knowingly allowed Americans to drink poison for years as they prioritized their own political ambitions and survival. Readers will be shocked by the stunning scope of injustice unveiled.

Toxic Government is a cautionary tale about “take charge” leaders who come to power with no real understanding of the workings of government and a willingness to make moral compromises to pursue their own path to power. Perhaps even more important, given the growing issue of water and environmental contamination surging across the US, Chariton provides information that could help prevent this tragedy from happening yet again in any other community.

In this impassioned debut exposé, journalist Chariton details the official decisions that led to a public health crisis in Flint, Mich., and its subsequent cover-up. In the early 2010s, Republican governor Rick Snyder 'hijack[ed] power away' from local elected officials in 'predominately minority cities' such as Flint, appointing his own 'emergency managers' to run them. That power grab led in 2014 to Flint switching water sources, from the Detroit municipal supply to the Flint River. The water, which the city began distributing without testing, was polluted and did not contain federally regulated anti-corrosion chemicals to stop antiquated lead pipes from leaching; residents began suffering ill effects, including rashes and cognitive deterioration.... As the outcry escalated, Snyder's administration began shredding documents and trying to buy off victims. In 2019, a newly elected state prosecutor halted the investigation begun by her predecessor (whose files Chariton managed to access). Chariton's narrative is powered by indignation as he chronicles the catastrophe's legacy (including increased cancer rates) and jaw-dropping government malfeasance.... It's a vital report on a horrific scandal.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

An investigative reporter digs into the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, to call out failures in government oversight and in officials elected to serve the people. Chariton's professional interest in the crisis began in 2016 after he spoke with a local activist. He learned that the decaying city, once a thriving exemplar of middle-class prosperity, now threatened the health of its citizens. Further investigations Chariton conducted over the next eight years made it clear that much of the blame lay in governmental corruption that began with former governor Rick Snyder, who repeatedly ignored warnings about the toxicity of Flint River water, and an administration that misappropriated funds meant to assist Flint residents. Cuts in funding for oversight efforts, disguised as bids to save the cash-strapped city money, only added to the problem. When officials initially changed the source of Flint's water from Lake Huron (and more specifically, the Detroit Water and Sewage Department) to the heavily polluted Flint River, the city's water plant did not test for carcinogens. Government negligence led to harmful levels of lead and Legionella bacteria making their way into Flint homes through brown-looking water that "smelled like wet cardboard, dirty feet, or straight up chemicals." Over time, residents-- many of whom were poor and/or Black--developed everything from rashes and loss of hair to life-threatening cancer and liver, kidney, and central nervous system ailments. Chariton's dedication to exposing the truth behind the lies and coverups is admirable.... The author delivers important journalism that serves as a sobering reminder that in the face of government injustice, it is up to citizens to spread awareness and take action. The book includes a foreword by Erin Brockovich. An impassioned and enlightening work of current events.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Jordan Chariton pulls off an investigative masterclass that manages to entertain, shock, infuriate, and break hearts all at once. In a journalism industry too often marked by the abandonment of stories like Flint, Chariton's unrelenting reporting should place this ongoing government cover-up back on front pages.

--Ryan Grim, journalist, DC Bureau Chief, The Intercept

Thank you, Jordan, for your continuous efforts to keep the Flint Water Crisis front and center. This book is an in-depth look behind the scenes of the cover-up of the largest man-made disaster this country has experienced at the hands of our government. It exposes the corruption and deception that was done to the people of Flint. To date, not one person has been held accountable for this terrible crime, the residents have not received settlement payments, and most media outlets have ignored what has happened here. This is a must read!

--Karen Weaver, former mayor of Flint

We the Poisoned is a brilliant work of investigative journalism. Drawing upon an impressive body of first-person interviews and research materials, Jordan Chariton persuasively argues that the Flint water crisis was not merely the consequence of cruel neoliberal policies and incompetent political leadership. Instead, he makes a compelling case for a full-fledged government conspiracy and cover up designed to shield the powerful from accountability for their gross and indefensible violence against the vulnerable. This is a book that should be read by all Americans and taught in every journalism curriculum.

--Marc Lamont Hill, author of "Nobody: Casualties of America's War on the Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond"

From the foreword: Chariton has shown why this story is not merely about one city, or one immoral cover-up, but really about the unholy merger of our government and corporate America--and the resulting toxicity that has infected our representative democracy. Just when it seems the layers of this cover-up have been revealed, Chariton peels back even more. He stops at nothing to expose the ugly and jaw-dropping information that we the people must know.

--Erin Brockovich, consumer advocate, environmental activist, and author, "Superman's Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It"

We the Poisoned is a cautionary reminder of what happens when callous indifference meets cold-blooded power. Jordan Chariton illuminates the stories of Flint residents and how government not only failed to protect them, it poisoned them. This is a must read for all of us. The Flint residents are us.

--Nina Turner, former Ohio state senator; national cochair, Bernie Sanders 2020; and senior fellow, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy

An unexpected hero arrives to expose and confront the villains. And in the case of Flint, Michigan, that hero was Jordan Chariton, the man who uncovered the ethnic cleansing and the profits it would make for the powers that be. This book tells that important story, one that all of us from Flint are hugely grateful for and hope you will read in this necessary book.

--Michael Moore, American documentary filmmaker

No one has covered the Flint water crisis like Jordan Chariton. We the Poisoned is a comprehensive account, interviewing witnesses not interviewed by others and uncovering documents not seen by other reporters. When those reporters went home, Chariton came back--and kept coming back. The people of Flint will never be made whole and will not get the criminal justice they deserve. This book at least gives them back important parts of their story.

--Peter Hammer, professor of law, Wayne State University

This book is an important reminder of the crucial role that investigative journalism plays in our civic culture. Left to their own devices, Michigan and federal officials would have covered up the tragic chain of decisions that led to the poisoning of the water supply in Flint, Michigan. But Jordan Chariton was among a handful of reporters determined to pierce through the web of denials and document what really happened, which he has laid out with meticulous detail in We the Poisoned.

--Michael Isikoff, journalist and coauthor, "Find Me the Votes"

Jordan Chariton is an independent investigative reporter known for reporting on-the-ground across America on significant stories that often fall through the cracks. Chariton has made 20 reporting trips to Flint since 2016 investigating the water crisis and cover up; he also covered the indigenous-led protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the United Auto Workers strike across the Midwest, the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, and has reported across the US on union drives, poverty, homelessness, and protest movements. He is the CEO and lead reporter for Status Coup News, an independent news outlet. His work has been featured in The Guardian, VICE News, The Intercept, CNBC, The Hill, and more. He lives with his wife and daughter in the New York area.

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